Torch:Bearers
by rakuyokoyo
Summary: (Heroes:Rising AU) Twenty-one students, four villains, one island to protect. Bonds forged out of desperation and courage in the darkest depths of fear. A final choice and a legacy that embraces hopes and dreams with the promises of a better tomorrow. "Keep going. Even without me, you must keep going." "There is a might within you." Bakugo/Deku/OC-centric. [Part 1: Prologue]


**_Boku no Hero Academia The Movie, Heroes:Rising_**

**_TBE Special Chapter_**

**TORCH:BEARERS**

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_"We called them 'Torchbearers'."_

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The blood was seeping through her clothes, staining the white fabric like a watercolour brush inking a red flower on an empty canvas. She tasted a coppery, metallic tang and let out a violent cough, leaning heavily against two boys who were all but blurry figures now. She raised both hands and shakily wrapped them around the boys, grasping blonde and mossy-green hair and stroking them slowly, each pat heavier and lagging from the one before.

"Deku," Kana whispered softly, forcing her eyes open and her expression gentle and apologetic. "Bakugo."

Her azure irises were glassy and unfocused, but she could just barely make out their costumes, mostly tattered and slightly hanging off their backs. Each of their heartbeats were soft but every quiet beat much healthier and stable than her own, and Kana felt one arm wrapping around her waist and the other around her shoulder so that she wouldn't fall.

"Please," the green-haired hero murmured through gritted teeth. _"Please…"_

"Wake up, Kana," Bakugo said weakly, the sharp edge usually in his voice now absent. "You're stronger than this… you can't lose here."

She let out a shaky laugh and coughed, blood splattering the torn ground with crimson droplets and the grips around her tightened. The smell of blood would have been overwhelming if it wasn't for the uncomfortable weight pressing against her heart, restricting her ability to breathe. "Keep going. Even without me… you have to keep going."

"Shut up," Bakugo snarled, desperate, carmine eyes darting around to see if there was anyone who could help. "You're not allowed to die—you said you wouldn't lose to me and there's still business we haven't finished—"

"I thought you wouldn't do this again, Kana-san," Midoriya said quietly, a trace of bitterness and anger laced in his words. "You said you'd do your best to keep living with us, you _promised _me—"

Kana's pink lips were stained red but they quirked up to her usual smile—one that was genuinely warm and thankful, because heaven knew she once believed she would never be able to smile again. "Oh, but you're wrong. This time, I'm _choosing _to give up my life to protect you guys—the people I love most in the world. To be able to die for a future that I believe in... I'm so, incredibly lucky."

She felt warm. Comfortable, even.

"Kana? Oi, Kana!"

Every wound. Every tear. They patched them up so quickly, pulling her up from her knees and encouraging her to keep walking. Before she knew it, the things that hurt her had slowly faded into scars of the past, painful memories untouched and untethered until she needed them.

"Kana-san," Midoriya quietly sobbed, large, warm tears rolling down freckled cheeks. "Kana-san…"

Her lips parted slightly to say something, but there was no energy left to muster up. Azure eyes they couldn't see, stormy as the darkest of days, bright as the clearest of skies swirled with a range of emotions that she couldn't quite understand. There was a swell of pride in her chest from how hard she'd worked to protect her classmates and everyone on the island—

_—Like a true hero._

But there was undeniably another part of her heart that echoed painfully against her ribcage. A throb filled with regrets from not being able to watch over the duo become the world's greatest heroes. An irony, she figured, compared to how much she wanted to end her life in the beginning of the year.

"Thank you," Kana croaked weakly and the tears began to uncontrollably fall. "Thank you for telling me... telling me that I'm not—"

She mustered up a smile.

_"Kana!"_

And her eyes shut, the carnage on Nabu Island disappearing into nothingness.

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**[Please read, especially if you have not yet seen _Heroes:Rising_.]**

**This story is a close retelling of _Heroes:Rising _with my OC, Kikuchi Kana from my unpublished BNHA story. Because this is an AU, it will ****be _one chapter _and a _work in progress _where I'll be uploading bits and pieces throughout the next few weeks so please follow the story if you want to read the rest.**

**I went to Japan just to watch the film back in December and it was absolutely amazing, from the themes and the soundtrack, to the animation and the characters. I'm releasing this now as we're less than a week away from the official North America screening of this movie and I'm hoping that this prologue will encourage people to go and watch because it is absolutely _stunning_. Anime-only's can also definitely watch.**

**The only reason why I'm releasing _Torch:Bearers _in shorter increments is that if I release the entire thing at once, it'll spoil everything in my own story. There's a few major issues with that story so it's in the process of getting edited, but once I fix the major holes, I'll be releasing chapter 1 which will give you guys a much better understanding of Kana's relationship to Deku and Bakugo.**

**Below is a short description of my OC and a sample chapter of the BNHA story (abbreviated to _'TBE'_) is up on my tumblr: rakuyokoyo o tumblr o com.**

**Please support _Torch:Bearers _and _Heroes:Rising!_**

**-Koyo**

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**OC Information:**

**Name: **Kikuchi Kana

**Age: **15

**Birthday: **Feb. 23rd

**Affiliation: **U.A High School, Department of Medicine and Department of Heroics (Class 1-A)

**Quirk: **Overdrive (Kana has healing blood which is divided into three components that others can drink for different purposes—_Redemption_, which heals wounds, _Baseline_, which heals Quirks, and _Overdrive_, which gives her a physical boost)

**Appearance: **onyx/faded black hair with bangs and fringes, with half of it usually tied up to a small bun at the top of her head. Pretty blue eyes, quite pale, and second tallest girl in 1-A (163 cm). Gets cold easily so usually replaces her school blazer with a thick hoodie and a white coat overtop. Signature shoes: Fila Disruptor II's. She has ten piercings on her ears (three cartilage, two lobe on each side) and fifteen rings, two of which are bladed rings similar to those that Annie Leonhart wore in _Attack on Titan_.

**Notes: **The character may not make a lot of sense at the moment but it definitely will once _TBE _comes out! Feel free to ask questions on Tumblr if you're confused about something though.


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